The Enemies of God

We must never converse with demons

In 1986 I spent fourteen days in retreat at Saint Tikhon’s Monastery in South Canaan, Pennsylvania. Staying in the monastic quarters, I had two weeks of wonderful fellowship with fellow monastics, worshiping in their temple, eating with them in trapeza, walking the trails through their forest, praying in their large Orthodox cemetery, and visiting the seminary bookstore.

One night I was awakened around two in the morning with a knock at the door, hearing someone calling my name. Startled out of a sound sleep, I realized my name was being called in unison by three voices, in a mocking tone, and that the knocking had moved from the hallway door of my cell, to the outside wall. Frightened, I reached out in total darkness, grabbing my prayer rope from the night stand. The voices continued calling out, “Father Tryphon, Father Tryphon, Father Tryphon”.

I said nothing, for I immediately realized the voices were demonic, mocking me as they were, since Tryphon means, “three voices”. I was too frightened to get up, but continued praying the Jesus Prayer for about an hour, while hiding under my blanket. Once the voices stopped, I managed to reach for the light switch next to the door, and got up to light a lampada before the icons. Returning to bed, I continued saying the Jesus Prayer.

Following the morning service, I went outside to see if there was by change a tree branch that had been tapping against the outside of my cell, only to discover there were not only no trees, but there were no footprints in the snow which had fallen the day before.

During trapeza that next afternoon, I told the assembled monks what had happened, and my recounting was met with silence. I spent the rest of the day thinking they all were thinking “poor Father Tryphon must be mentally ill”.

Later that evening while sitting with one of the monks in the kitchen, eating a microwaved potato, he brought up the subject. He told me the silent response from my fellow monks was the result of shock, for it had happened to the last monk who had stayed in that cell. He went on to tell me that the cell next to mine had been used as a storage room for years, following an exorcism service that their bishop had performed a number of years earlier. When the second need for an exorcism arose, the room next to mine had been abandoned.

I share this experience as a way to remind my readers that demons do exist, and they are the enemies of God, and the enemies of humankind. They use trickery and deception to bring us down, and they serve the devil, who is the Great Deceiver. It is therefore important that we never enter into conversation with them, and never answer them, whether they speak to us directly as happened to me, or tempt us through evil thoughts. They can have no power over us unless we give it to them. Our God is more powerful than the devil and all the fallen angels, and they can be dispersed by calling upon the Holy Name of Jesus.

When those demons called out to me, had I responded, they would have gained power over me. By remaining silent, and calling upon the name of Jesus, they left me. I blessed my room with holy water before taking my rest each evening, before my departure home, and lit the lampada before the icons. This is a practice I’ve followed every night, since that eventful encounter.

With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon

Tuesday November 22, 2016 / November 9, 2016
23rd Week after Pentecost. Tone five.

Martyrs Onesiphorus and Porphyrius of Ephesus (284).
Venerable Matrona, abbess, of Constantinople (492).
Venerable Theoctiste of the isle of Lesbos (881).
New Hieromartyrs Parthenius bishop of Ananiev, Constantine, Demetrius, Nestor, Theodore, Constantine, Victor, Elias priests, Joseph deacon and Hieromartyr Alexis (1937).
Venerable Onesiphorus the Confessor of the Kiev Caves (1148).
Martyr Alexander of Thessalonica (305).
Martyr Anthony of Apamea (5th c.).
Venerable John the Short of Egypt (422).
Venerables Eustolia (610) and Sosipatra (635) of Constantinople.
St. Nectarius (Kephalas), metropolitan of Pentapolis (1920) (Greek).
Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “The Quick Hearer of Mt. Athos” (10th c.).
Venerable Simeon Metaphrastes of Constantinople (960).
Venerables Euthymius (990) and Neophytus, the Serbians of Mt. Athos (Greek).
Martyrs Narses and Artemonos (Greek).
St. Helladius, monk (Greek).
Martyrs Claudius, Castor, Sempronian, and Nicostrat (Romania).

Scripture Readings

1 Thessalonians 1:6-10

6 And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe. 8 For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything. 9 For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

Luke 12:42-48

42 And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44 Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. 45 But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. 47 And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.